My favorite sopranos for the third Sunday before Lent

Parable of the workers in the vineyard by Salomon Koninck. Between 1647 and 1649. Hermitage Museum.

Of course this Sunday, February 19, 2017, is the second Sunday before Lent, not the third. However, when I made my calendar recently, I misread something in my list, so labeled the Sundays incorrectly. While I thus owe you a post about cantata 18 this week, this post here below is for last week.

On the third Sunday before Lent in 1724, Bach performed cantata 144 Nimm, was dein ist, und gehe hin. Read all about this short but wonderful work in my blog post from last year, in which I discuss an unrivaled recording by Gardiner with mezzo soprano Wilke te Brummelstoete and soprano Miah Persson.

In that cantata from 1724 Bach wrote one soprano aria on the concept of “Genügsamkeit” (being satisfied with what you have), but three years later, he dedicated an entire solo work for soprano to this theme: cantata 84 Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke (I am content in my good fortune), featuring the delightful aria Ich esse mit Freuden mein weniges Brot(It is with joy that I eat my meager piece of bread). We can probably take this as proof that Genügsamkeit was very important to Bach.

I myself count among my blessings that Herreweghe’s recording of this cantata features one of my favorite sopranos, Dorothee Mields. Read more about her in my post about the Herreweghe sopranos. Those who understand German can listen here to a lovely and very insightful radio interview she did for WDR Tonart in March 2016.

Dorothee Mields

Enjoy Dorothee Mields’ singing on Herreweghe’s recording of cantata 84 Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke on YouTube or on Spotify. The cantata appears on Herreweghe’s album Christus der ist mein Leben, which also includes the fabulous cantata 95 (discussed in the Herreweghe sopranos post mentioned above). If you like these recordings, please consider purchasing the MP3 of this album on Amazon.de or on Amazon.com. In doing so, you will support the artists as well as this blog (I receive a small percentage of all sales made on Amazon through links on this blog).

For cantata 84, find the German texts with English translations here, and the score here.